emeigh



o NITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

A. EMEIGH, OFJERUSALEM, NEW YORK.

APPARATUS FOR SKINNING EELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 20,703, dated June 29, 1858.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADAM EMEIGH, of J erusalem, in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Device for Skinning Eels; and I do hereby declare that the followingis afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which Figure l is a front view of my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of same, taken in the line w m, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan or top view of same. Fig. 4 is a detached view of a griper, and Fig. 5 is a detached view of arippin g-knife.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention consists in the employment or use of a holder or clamp and decapitatingknife, arranged as hereinafter shown, and used in connection with a griper and ripping-knife, or their equivalents, whereby the desired workviz., the skinning of eels-may be performed very expeditiously and in a manner far preferable to that done by hand.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents a vertical frame attached to a proper base, B. The frame A may be formed of two uprights, a, connected at their upper ends by a cross-tie or traversebar, b, and having a board, 0, attached to them at one side.

Through'the traverse-bar b a vertical metallic frame, 0, passes. This frame is of rectangular form, and allowed to slide freely up and down through the traverse-bar I).

In the upper part of the frame 0 two spurs, d d, are secured, said spurs projecting down from the upper cross-piece of the frame. (See Figs. 1 and 2.) The lower end of the frame 0 is connected by a link, D, to a spring-treadle, E, which has a tendency to keep the frame 0 elevated, so that the spurs d d will be some distance above the upper surface of the traverse-bar b.

To the upper edge of the board 0 a metallic rectangular bar, F, is attached. This bar extends the whole length of the board 0, and one end of a knife, G, is pivoted to one end of the bar F, as shown at e. The opposite end of the knife is provided with a handle, f, and the handle is fitted in a vertical guide, H, attached to the end of the frame. A spring, I, is attached to the guide H, said spring keeping the knife Gr elevated when it is thrown upward.

The outer upward edge of the bar F serves as a ledger-blade to the knife G, but the cutting-edge of the knife does not pass closely over the edge of the ledger-blade. A trifling space is allowed between them, as shown clearly at g in Fig. 3.

J, Fig. 4., is a griper, which is constructed of two plates or jaws, h it, connected at their upper ends by a joint, 1', and having their lower ends bent toward each other. To the inner side of each plate or jaw h, and near the lower ends, spurs j are attached.

K, Fig. 5, is a ripping-knife, which is constructed by having a blade or fleam, it, pro; jecting obliquely inward or toward the handle from a shank or bar, l, as shown clearly in Fig. 5.

The operation is as follows: The operator grasps the griper J, and seizes an eel near the head and places the head on the traversebar I), within the frame 0, underneath the spurs d cl, the belly of the eel being upward, as shown in red, Fig. 1. The operator depresses the frame 0 by forcing down the treadle E with the foot, and the spurs d (I pass through the head of the eel and firmly secure the eel to the traverse-bar I). (See Fig. 2, the eel being shown in red.) The operator then grasps the ripping-knife K and opens the eelthe whole length of the belly. (See blue lines, Fig. 2.) The knife Gris then forced downward and the head is severed from the body-that is, the meat is cut and the vertebra divided, but the skin adjoining the spine is not out. This effect is due to the space g, which is allowed between the ledger-blade and cuttingedge of the knife, the knife slipping over said portion of the skin. The operator then grasps the end of the body adjoining the head by means of the griper, as shown in red, Fig. 1, and draws the body from the skin, the latter being held by the spurs d. The foot is then taken from the treadle E, the head and skin removed from the machine, and a succeeding eel secured in the machine fand operated upon in the same way, as described.

This machine or device has been practically tested, and it operates Well, the desired work being performed much more rapidly than it can be done by hand, and in a much preferable manner.

It will be understood that in skinning eels by hand they require to be first thrown violently on the ground or struck against some Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The holder or clamp formed of the frame 0, connected with a spring-treadle, E, and provided with spurs dd, and the knife G and ledger-blade F, arranged relatively with each other as shown, the above parts being fitted in or attached to a frame, A, and used in connection with a griper, J and ripping-knife K, or their equivalents, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

ADAM EMEIGH.

Witnesses:

W. TUSGH, XV. HAUFF. 

